Loving Wife, Caring Mother
by anthony's angel
Summary: Endlessly, she said, I will wait for you. Warning: not very happy! Harmony Pairing.


(Here, I want your opinion on this one. We'll say this story is set after the last HP book and they are done school. Harry Hermione pairing.)

_Walked into our world and made_

_Horrible sounds_

Hermione sat alone, staring intently at the clock mounted on the wall above her kitchen table. It was already 9:00 on Friday June 30th, and her husband still hadn't come home yet. She was beginning to worry, especially since he had their son, Davey Remus, was with him. Their daughter, Christiana Lily, was upstairs sleeping happily.

She sighed, deciding to head upstairs to bed. Quenching her thirst with a quick glass of water, she mounted the stairs to go to their bedroom when the window rattled loudly with an owl outside, a piece of parchment strapped to its leg.

Puzzled, she opened the window and the owl flew in and sat obediently on the coffee table, sticking the leg with the parchment out. After taking it, the owl took off again with a soft hoot.

_I can still hear them today_

_(Sweetly they seem)_

_Beautiful now_

_Though they all passed, my love_

It was from Harry. He would be working at the Ministry of Magic until 10:30. Hagrid would be bringing Davey home by 9:15 PM. Sighing, she decided to go check on Christiana before going back to the living room to wait for Hagrid. Pushing the door open ever so slightly, she saw the 5-year-old girl sleeping peacefully, her wavy black hair was tied back in a ponytail.

Closing the door, she went back downstairs, thought wandering back to her days at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, her friends that she hadn't seen for 10 years. Tears sprang to her beautiful brown eyes as the thought of her former Headmaster, Dumbledore, popped up. A wonderful man. Now dead and gone, only his memory lived on in all of his students.

The doorbell chimed, signaling the arrival of Hagrid. Wiping her eyes, she put a bright smile on her face and opened the door. "Hagrid! How are you?" She asked pleasantly, waving him into the living room. "Would you like something to drink?"

_Still each time I always miss_

_Everyone, everyone_

"Sommat strong, if yer don't mind," the giant said. He sat down on the couch; it nearly cracked under his weight. "Sorry about tha furniture. Ya might want ter get this reinforced." He put the sleeping child down on the couch next to him, a broad grin on his face. "He looks just like his dad."

Hermione had returned with a large cup of black coffee for her friend. "Sorry, we don't have any spirits in the house, so coffee will have to do, I'm afraid." She passed him the mug, which he took gingerly.

"Thank yeh," he grumbled, sipping at the hot liquid. Some trickled down into his beard, which had large streaks of gray in it. "Oh, by the way, I think there's an owl outside on the lamppost with sommat for ya. For some odd reason, it won't come ter the winder."

_Though in time they finally bent_

_Every word, everyone, every word_

Hermione, also puzzled, looked out the window. Sure enough, a giant snowy owl was sitting on the lamppost. Her signal to return to Mungo's, as there was an emergency. "Oh no! Something has come up! I need to go!" She rushed around, quickly changing into her nurse uniform. "Hagrid, we'll have to catch up later. Right now, I need to lock the house."

The giant was already out the door, clambering back onto a giant motorcycle parked on the street. "I'll pop by tomorrah, when you an' 'Arry are both home." He kicked the bike into life, the low growl of the engine quickly disappearing into the darkness. The clock read 9:55 PM as soon as the door was locked with a click. Hermione Apparated away with a loud POP, leaving the street empty. The other houses were all lifeless, now light in the windows.

"_I will wait for you," she said, endlessly._

"_I will wait for you," so spoke, Misery_

Harry Apparated in at exactly 10:00 PM to find his house dark, a note taped to the door. He mumbled it aloud. "Harry, emergency came up an Mungo's. Had to leave. Children are asleep in their beds; see you when I get home. Don't wait up too late for me, okay? I love you. Hermione.

He sighed, unlocking the door and headed upstairs to his room, but not before noticing the broken couch. He chuckled. "Hagrid." He continued to climb, coming to his daughter's room. He opened the door to check on her before moving across the hall to his room. Pulling his Ministry robes off, he changed into a pair of flannel pajama pants and a white t-shirt that clung to his muscled form.

Sighing again, he clambered into bed, putting his glasses on the nightstand beside him and clicked the lights off. The digital clock glowed 10:05. His chest rose and fell in time with his watch. Tick, tock, tick, tock.

_I returned to you but found_

_My empty home_

He wished Hermione were home; he had wonderful news to tell her. _I guess it can wait until morning_, he thought to himself before finally drifting off into sleep, the scent of his wife's shampoo filling his nostrils.

_The radio told me to stay _

_(As it burned down, I sang alone)_

_You will not pass, my love_

His dreams wandered freely, bouncing from their first night as a wedded couple, to their friends back in Hogwarts. Ron and Parvati Patil had gotten married a few years ago and now had their own family to raise. Ron was working at Hogwarts, teaching Potions, as Snape had retired and left the school. He was a lot fairer than Snape had been, giving out House Points for each answer, deducting for errors.

Before he knew it, the alarm was blaring for him to wake up. He rolled over, slapping the clock off. He mumbled, "Morning Mione," but got no response. He blinked a couple of time to clear his vision before putting his glasses on. He was the only one in the room. "I hope she's okay," he said aloud. The door flew open and in bounded Christiana and Davey, five and four respectively. They pounced on their father, knocking him back into his pillow.

"DADDY!" Chrissy cried, burying her face in his shoulder in a huge hug. Her blue eyes contrasted with her dark hair, making her eyes seem that much more beautiful to Harry. He smiled and hugged her back, kissing her on the cheek.

_Still each time I always miss_

_Everyone, everyone_

"How's my little Chrissy?" He asked in a baby voice he reserved specially for her. "Did you sleep well?" He started to tickle her, shrieks of laughter coming out of her. Davey couldn't resist getting in on the action and started tickling his father. Soon, all three of them were out of breath.

The sharp rap of an owl at the window caused Harry to pull himself away from his children to get the _Daily Prophet_. Paying the owl three Knuts, he nearly dropped the paper on the floor after it left. The moving picture on the front showed St. Mungo's on fire, flames leaping out of the windows, kissing at the black sky above it.

He said, "Oh no… Mione…" He flopped down on the bed, arms hanging limply at his sides, the paper falling under the bed. The kids sensed something was wrong and asked of their father what was troubling him.

_Though in time they finally bent_

_Every word, everyone, every word_

He didn't answer them. "Go get dressed. We're taking you to see Uncle Ron." They happily skipped off to go get ready, singing, "We're seeing Uncle Ronnie!" as they did so. Harry picked up the phone and called him quickly. "Ron? I need you to look after the kids today. Emergency came up."

Ron said, "No problem. Did you see the paper this morning? Mungo's caught fire last night. Hope Hermione wasn't working that night." He hung up.

Harry said, "I hope she's okay" to the dial tone. He placed the phone back into the cradle and threw on his jeans and a black t-shirt with green letters. "I MARRIED THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT," was what it read. It had been a joke from Ron and his then-fiancée Parvati. Hermione had gotten one similar to it. Harry just hoped he'd see her wear it again.

"_I will wait for you," she said, endlessly._

"_I will wait for you," so spoke, Misery_

_(Oh)_

The kids were downstairs, ready and waiting for him. Taking each by the hand, he said, "Ready? One, two, three!" He Apparated off to the Foxhole, the name of Ron's house. They landed easily in the front yard, where Ron was waiting on the front porch, drinking coffee and reading the paper.

"Hey Harry! How are you?" Ron asked, putting both his mug and his paper down, rising to give him a friendly hug. "Haven't seen you for a while. How's the job at the Ministry?"

Harry shrugged. "Not bad. Look, I don't mean to be rude, but I need to get going. I'll talk with you for a bit when I come back to get the kids, okay?" He Apparated off, leaving Ron saying sarcastically, "No problem, mate."

_I have been waiting for you_

_Biding as you taught me to_

_I have come to relieve you of life and love_

Harry stopped just outside of Mungo's. The place was absolute chaos, with other nurses running around, carrying people on stretchers. He ran blindly forward, pushing his way past people to get to the medical tent, where the more severely hurt people were housed. He burst in and asked the attending doctor, "Hermione Potter… Is she okay?"

The doctor looked stunned for a second. After shaking off his surprise, he flipped through his clipboard. "She's in Tent A-14, two down and one behind me. She's fairly beat up I'm sad to say."

Harry bolted from the tent, finding the tent with ease, pulling the flap aside. He saw her laying on a cot nearby, her face covered with severe burns, most of her ginger hair missing, revealing her skull. "Mione… no…" He fell to his knees beside her. "Don't leave me, Mione. Don't leave me…

_I will wait for you_

_I will wait for you_

_I will wait for you_

The nurse said, "I'm sorry sir, but she's dead. She got most of the patients in her wing out, but suffered extreme smoke inhalation and a crossbeam knocked her down before she could get out herself. We only found her during the cleanup. I'm sorry, are you her husband?"

Harry didn't respond. He was hugging her body next to him. "Mione… Mione, no… Not you, my angel. Not you." His thin shoulders started to shake with wracking sobs, tears splattering onto the grass below him. "Don't leave me…"

He cried like he had never cried before. His reason for living was gone; his ray of light in his gloomy life had fizzled out. The nurse finally had him ejected from the tent. "We'll send you the body for the funeral Mr. Potter. We need to do some final autopsy tests. You will have it by Sunday." The flap closed.

_I will wait_

_I will wait_

The rest of Saturday was a blur to him now. He had Apparated home and rummaged through random boxes until he found what he was looking for. Their wedding album. He flipped absently through it, finally stopping on the last picture. They were coming out of the church, Hermione looking radiant in her bridal gown. He choked out, "I want to go back. I could have prevented this! I know I could have!"

He fell asleep there, only to be woken by the sound of an Apparition behind him. He turned to see Ron, wearing all black. His eyes were red and puffy. "I'm sorry mate," he said. "I just found out a few minutes ago. They have a funeral prepared for her. I, kind of, helped make the grave marker." He grabbed Harry by the arm and Apparated to the funeral home.

The casket sat up front, surrounded by her favorite flower- a white rose. It had been her wedding flower as well. She lay inside, in her best robes, her hair returned to normal by the mortician.

"_I will wait for you," (wait for you) she said, endlessly._

"_I will wait for you," so spoke._

_So spoke, Misery._

The funeral director said, "Ah, Mr. Weasely, I see you found Mr. Potter. I only ask you to give a short eulogy, Mr. Potter." He patted Harry on the arm. "It's always hard losing a loved one. How long were you married?"

"10 years. We married as soon as we got out of Hogwarts," Harry said, nodding at the podium. "Can I do this now? I need… I need to do some things at home." The minister nodded, and Harry went up.

"Can I have your attention please?" Harry asked loudly. Everyone looked at him strangely. He was still in jeans and his t-shirt, not exactly funeral attire. "I apologize for my strange outfit, but I only have a short eulogy to give before I leave.

"Hermione Ann Granger Potter was the most talented, beautiful, smart, and witty person on this planet. I sometimes wonder why she chose me over anyone else, but now I only wish she was still alive." He smiled as recalled something. "Every day, when I left for the Ministry of Magic, I would tell her to wait for me. She'd always reply, 'I will wait for you, my love.' She meant it too. As soon as I came home, at 10:00, she'd be sitting at the kitchen table or in the living room reading."

_I will bite straight through_

_As I wait for you, dear_

_Endlessly._

"I only pray she's in a better place. She was an angel, not only to me, but also to the patients at St. Mungo's. I will join her when the time is right. My children will need all the support they can get right now and I wouldn't dream of letting anyone but myself raise them. Thank you, Hermione Ann Granger Potter, for 10 years of marriage and two beautiful children to remember you by."

The casket closed; all heads bowed for the prayer, as the casket was Apparated away to the gravesite. Harry followed close behind, just in time to see the casket getting lowered into the ground. The headstone, with Ron's description on it, was carved of white marble. In gold letters, it read:

HERMIONE ANN GRANGER POTTER

1991-2018

LOVING WIFE, CARING MOTHER

WONDERFUL FRIEND

END


End file.
